While recent events and crises demand our mourning and reflection on the implications of violence and bloodshed, a recent development in Malaysia also demands our reflection on the implications of ignorance and fear in our world.

We have a moral duty -- as both people of faith and Americans -- to take a stand for religious liberty and to make space for the Muslim-American identity to grow and prosper. Indeed, we will fail the guiding principles of this nation if we do not.

When reading about the Afghanistan war, many people begin to conflate all Muslims with the radicals that we hear about on a daily basis. But what about this wonderful woman and her family and friends, who use Islam as a rich resource to promote peace?

Dividing us broadly into Christian, Hindu or Muslim might make for neat chapter headings in comparative religion books, but in a globalized, pluralistic world, the brand names don't say enough about the actual spiritual lives of individuals.

How important is it to know that Jonathan Edwards was an 18th-century revivalist? The survey's focus on factoids obscures a central challenge of the 21st century: negotiating the absolute conflict of multiple religious absolutes.

For all of the talk of America being a "Christian Nation" and being founded on "religious principles," many Americans are as misinformed about religion as they are about history, basic science and geography.

At the present juncture of history, Western Christianity is suffering from a bad case of spiritual amnesia. Even those who claim to be devout or conservative often know little about the history of their faith traditions.